Ernst Thälmann - Führer seiner Klasse (1955)

The Great Depression shook Germany in 1931 and, under the Brüning government, led to massive wage cuts for workers. Ernst Thälmann organized strikes by the Mansfeld and Ruhr miners, succeeding in uniting Social Democratic, Communist, and Christian workers in a common action. Nevertheless, he was defeated in the 1932 Reich presidential election because of the SPD’s machinations. Even after Hitler’s seizure of power in January 1933, he continued his struggle for the rights of the working class and against fascism. He was soon arrested and later transferred to a concentration camp. After enduring 11 years of imprisonment heroically, he was murdered in 1944. In a parallel story, the marriage of two young Communists, already hinted at in the first part of the film, is recounted. The central figure in the second part is Änne’s husband, Fiete Jansen, who had already appeared in the first part as a friend and fighter at Thälmann’s side. He manages to emigrate to the Soviet Union, fights for the people’s cause in the Spanish Civil War, and later serves in the Red Army, where he advocates bringing the fascist war to an end quickly. His wife, after being arrested for illegal activity, dies in a penitentiary during an air raid.